


time and impatience

by hedakombikru



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 07:25:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8614978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedakombikru/pseuds/hedakombikru
Summary: Maggie goes to the alien bar to practice pool and maybe numb her feelings with alcohol, but that isn't the way her night works out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't read this over so apologies beforehand for anything and everything. And thanks for reading!

Maggie pushes through the door of the alien bar and pauses just inside, running a hand through her hair with a weary sigh as she takes in the familiar atmosphere. It’s a bittersweet feeling that runs through her when she glances at the pool table, a feeling she has become all too familiar with in the three months that had passed since The Kiss.

Alex is at least talking to her now, and they continue to associate professionally at crime scenes, but it’s a far cry from the easy and frequent interactions they once had. Maggie can admit, if only to herself, that she misses her friend.

She hates regretting what happened that night, but she does. Not turning her down, of course, because that really was for the best. Neither of them was in the right place to jump into a relationship at that time, and the odds of it ending badly for both of them were too great for Maggie to risk. But sometimes she finds herself running over that night in her mind, wondering if there was any way she could have gone about it that wouldn’t have resulted in nearly two weeks of radio silence from Alex immediately after.

When Alex had finally been ready to hear Maggie out, let her explain things better, Maggie couldn’t help feeling that it was already too late. Her head clear – or at least more so than it was that night – Alex had been understanding of her explanation. Of course she had. However new Alex is at this, she’s still intelligent and logical, and Maggie’s reasoning had been sound.

But by that point the hurt was already there, deep and seemingly indelible and possibly beyond what Maggie could comprehend without knowing Alex Danvers a little better. So even though they had reconciled in a sense, there’s a new uneasiness to their relationship that has Maggie seeking out the bar more and more as of late.

Not always to get drunk, of course. She doesn’t need that. But she has found something strangely comforting in spending time at the place that had somehow, without her ever realizing, become _theirs_ rather than _hers_ , even if Alex no longer drops by as often as Maggie would like.

The alone time is good for her slowly improving pool skills, if nothing else.

Deciding to grab a drink before she racks up the table, Maggie weaves through the thin crowd and up to the bar where M’gann and another woman are tending to a handful of the bar’s more solemn patrons.

Maggie almost doesn’t recognize her at first. She steps up to the counter to flag M’gann down and gives a brief glance to the two people sitting in the stools on either side of her. One is a green-skinned humanoid with pointy ears and chin that she’s seen hanging around the bar on more than one occasion, but it’s the woman sitting to her right that causes Maggie to do a double take.

Kara Danvers, blonde hair spilling loose from what might have been a carefully crafted up-do earlier in the day, is staring so intently at the bottom of an empty glass that Maggie wonders if there’s something there that she can’t see.

Kara’s quiet stillness sets Maggie a little on edge.

The first and only time she had met Alex Danvers’ little sister, she had been struck by Kara’s bright and cheery demeanor, even despite the obvious wariness she’d felt at meeting the woman who had broken her sister’s heart, which at that time had been only six weeks earlier. They’d run into each other by coincidence at Noonan’s, Maggie and Alex coming from a nearby crime scene and Kara on a lunch break, and under Alex’s subtle assurances, Kara had steadily warmed up to her in the ten minutes before she’d had to return to work.

Now, that brightness seems distinctly absent from Kara’s drooping shoulders, which sway slightly as she gazes into her glass.

Maggie isn’t sure what to say to her, or even if she should say anything, but after a moment she makes up her mind and takes a seat on the empty barstool in front of her. “Hey. Kara, right?”

Kara’s reaction is slow, likely inhibited by whatever had been in that glass, but eventually she lifts her head to blink wide blue eyes at Maggie. “Heyyy!” she greets, with a dopey smile that makes Maggie feel marginally less concerned. “Detective Sawyer. What’re you doin’ here?”

Maggie can’t help returning a smile. Kara Danvers may be even more adorable drunk. “Same as you, I suppose,” she says, nodding to Kara’s glass.

Kara nods unsteadily and rolls the glass between her palms.

“Is Alex here with you?” Maggie’s eyes flit around the bar, perhaps expecting Alex to appear, but there’s no sign of her.

The smile drops from Kara’s face. “No. I don’ wanna worry her,” she slurs.

Maggie frowns. “Why not?” If there’s one thing Maggie knows about Alex Danvers, it is that she would do absolutely anything for her sister, and has. Kara not wanting her sister’s support, choosing instead to spend her night alone in a dark alien bar, is worrying, even considering how little Maggie knows about Kara – it’s enough just to know how much Alex cares about her.

“She- she doesn’t need me interrupting her life so much. So I- I’m taking a page from Mon- Mike- from his book.” As if in explanation, Kara lifts her glass a little and then sets it back down with a _clunk_ that probably dents the bar top. “Yeah.”

Kara doesn’t protest when Maggie pulls the glass from her loose grip and takes a whiff. It smells a bit like jet fuel, and Maggie’s nose scrunches in distaste. “How many of these have you had?”

“Hmm?”

They’re interrupted when M’gann approaches with Maggie’s usual and an apology for the delay.

Maggie catches the concerned look M’gann shoots Kara as she takes the empty glass, and it tells her that the answer to her previous question is probably somewhere close to ‘too many.’ Their eyes meet and Maggie nods, sliding her own glass away from her. She won’t be drinking tonight.

When M’gann smiles softly and takes it away, Maggie turns back to Kara.

She briefly considers taking Kara home, or rather to Alex’s home, before she remembers that all she has is her motorcycle, and the last thing Maggie wants is to get Alex’s little sister turned into road kill because she was too inebriated to keep herself on the bike.

Instead, she taps her fingers against Kara’s left elbow to regain her wandering attention. “Kara, can I call Alex for you?”

Kara takes a minute to answer, frowning thoughtfully in a way that makes Maggie wish to see that dopey smile on her face again. Finally, she nods. “Sure. Maybe you guys can play-” Kara turns and swirls a finger in the direction of the pool tables, shrugs when the word seems to escape her, and continues. “Alex likes that.”

Maggie can’t suppress her surprised chuckle. “She does, huh?”

Kara nods, vigorously enough that it makes Maggie’s neck hurt just watching her. “Yeah. She misses spending time with you.”

Kara suddenly smacks a hand over her mouth, eyes wide behind her glasses, and Maggie knows this likely isn’t something Alex would want her to reveal. Still, it makes Maggie smile a little wider.

“Pretend- pretend I didn’t say that,” Kara says, not pulling off stern well in her drunken state. She opens her mouth, probably to backpedal some more, but Maggie speaks up to spare her from trying.

“Okay. I’m gonna call Alex to come pick you up. You stay here and get some water to start sobering you up, got it?”

Kara looks around like she has forgotten where ‘here’ is, then nods. “Right. Yep. I’ll be here.”

“Water,” Maggie reminds her, and then walks off to a quieter corner of the room, dialing Alex’s number.

She waits four rings, wondering if Alex will answer for her tonight, before the line connects.

“ _Danvers_.”

“Hey,” Maggie greets. “You at home?”

A pause, then “ _Yeah. Why?_ ”

“I’m at the bar. Thought you should know your sister’s here. Seems like she’s had a few and she could use a ride home.”

“ _Kara’s there?_ ” Maggie hears shuffling in the background. “ _Is she okay?_ ”

“She’s fine,” Maggie assures. “I think M’gann might have cut her off just before I got here. I told her to drink some water while she waits for you.”

“ _I’ll be there in ten,_ ” Alex says, and hangs up.

Maggie heads back to the bar and finds M’gann glaring down a lanky blue alien who seems to be making passes at Kara, though Kara seems rather oblivious to it. The addition of Maggie’s glare as she approaches finally sends him scurrying off, and Maggie retakes her seat.

“Hey, Kara. Alex will be here soon.”

“Oh! Did you call her?” Kara squints at her, seeming confused, so Maggie bites back and laugh and pushes the half empty glass of water towards her.

“Yes,” she tells her, and decides not to mention how concerned Alex had sounded. Somehow she doesn’t think that will make Kara feel better.

“Oh, yeah,” Kara says. She knocks back the rest of the water in two gulps and once again dents the bar with how forcefully she sets the glass down.

“I’ll get you some more,” M’gann says, faint smile on her face as she walks away.

“She’s nice,” Kara sighs, still slurring her words some. “J’onn is happier now that he has a Martian friend. It’s nice.”

Maggie wonders at how well Kara seems to know the director of a secret agency, but doesn’t ask. Kara’s solemn demeanor seems to have disappeared again for the time being – honestly, Maggie is starting to get whiplash – but she makes a mental note to inform Alex of the situation so she can talk to her sister about it later.

M’gann returns with the water then and Kara sips it more slowly this time. She launches into a vaguely coherent story about a work incident that occupies the next several minutes before Alex finally pushes through the door.

“Hey,” Alex greets as she approaches them, her calm tone belied by the line between her brows. “Kara, you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Kara waves her off. “Just lemme finish my story and we can go.”

Alex rolls her eyes but follows it with an indulgent smile and a nod as Kara spins back around and continues relating her story to a saintly patient M’gann.

Alex turns to Maggie. “Thank you,” she says, tone soft and carrying a hint of something Maggie hasn’t heard in a while. “For taking care of her.”

Maggie shrugs. “I didn’t do much.”

“You called.”

One corner of Maggie’s mouth turns upward. “Yeah, well. I know how important she is to you.”

Alex’s answering smile is soft but tentative. “I-”

“Alex!” Kara’s near-shout interrupts what may or may not have been a moment building between them. “You should go play pool with her now! I’ll wait here with M’gann.” Kara tries to wink at her and succeeds only in blinking dramatically.

“Kara,” Alex sputters, and maybe it’s just the lighting in the bar, but Maggie thinks she sees the hint of a flush on her cheeks at Kara’s glaring lack of subtlety.

She smirks. “Well, what do you say, Danvers? One game? I’ve been practicing.”

Alex reluctantly agrees, and they leave Kara in M’gann’s care for the next fifteen minutes as Alex proceeds to beat Maggie yet again, though Maggie is proud to note that her defeat is not as severe as usual. The way Alex grins at her afterward makes her think that maybe she’s a little proud of Maggie, too.

It’s in that moment, seeing Alex smiling at her with flushed cheeks and a warmth she hadn’t seen in months, that Maggie decides she’s done with missing Alex Danvers, done with thinking about her as she drinks alone and letting her keep her distance now that they’re both in a better place. She wants to give this a shot, and damn if the possibilities, good and bad, don’t scare the shit out of her.

With a heavy intake of breath, drunk on nothing but Alex and the sorely missed familiarity of this moment, she blurts, “Go out with me.”

And it’s probably just her imagination but everything seems to freeze then, as Alex’s eyes widen and her jaw drops slightly. Anticipation claws at her insides and goddamn it, since when does _Maggie Sawyer_ get so nervous asking a girl on a date?

Except it isn’t just any girl. It’s Alex, who _gets_ her in a way that’s refreshing and rare. Maggie would be lying if she said she was fine with just the casual friendship they’d been maintaining these last few weeks.

Caught up in her musings, she almost misses Alex’s breathy “Okay” from across the pool table.

“Okay?” Maggie confirms.

Alex nods, an almost shy smile curling her lips, and Maggie brightens.

They still have some shit to work through, she won’t deny that, and she knows that Alex knows it, too. But they can work through it together, take it slow. They can make this work.

Maggie rounds the table, fingers skimming along the polished wooden edge, and comes to a stop just in front of Alex, tilting her head up to meet her expressive gaze. It seems as though her every hope and fear is reflected there. A heady feeling rushes through her. “I’ll call you?”

“Yeah,” Alex murmurs, still breathless, still smiling softly. She swallows hard and tears her eyes away from Maggie’s to glance over at the bar. “I’d better get Kara home,” she says after a moment, voice rough with equal resignation and reluctance. “It looks like M’gann is in need of rescuing.” There’s only the briefest hesitation before Alex reaches forward to wrap Maggie in a hug. “Thank you for everything tonight.”

Maggie squeezes Alex tight in acknowledgment, then pulls back, giving her a dimpled smile.

“See you tomorrow, Danvers.”


End file.
